Notes prepared by Cambridgeshire
Beekeepers' Association for the guidance of Allotment Managers when considering
the basis on which bee colonies could be readmitted to allotments.

HONEY BEES - What are they? - What do
they do?

Honey bees are insects that have been
on Earth for about 100 million years, well before any humans.

Bees thrived without the help of man
and still do in some parts of the world. At the beginning of the 2Oth
century disease caused the demise of the native strain of black bee in
England.

Since 1992, when the varroa mite
entered southern England from the Continent, bees in the UK have become more
dependant on man. The varroa infestation has moved northwards and colonies
in hives can only survive if they are treated to combat varroa. Wild honey
bee colonies die out but bumble bees are not affected.

The main function of honey bees is as
pollinators. They are of immense value to agriculture, horticulture and
gardeners and are responsible for the pollination of crops estimated to have
a value of £7 billion per year. Government ministers and other officers
have shown their ignorance of this fact on many occasions and have dismissed
bees and beekeeping as insignificant.

Siting beehives and handling bees on
allotments

Things NOT to do

Do not place hives in positions from
which flight paths impinge on other allotment users or pathways.

Do not allow inexperienced beekeepers
to keep colonies of bees on the allotment without ensuring that the novice
will have the benefit of guidance by an experienced beekeeper.

Do not handle bees when other people
are gardening in the immediate vicinity.

Do not allow the strength of colonies
to increase to swarming strength in an unmanaged way.

Things to do

Try to arrange for hives to be sited
in a remote area of the allotment(s) away from other plot holders.

Limit the number of colonies in any
area.

Ensure that bees are encouraged to
rise in excess of 6 feet before leaving the plot by the use of screening
which could be natural hedging, wooden fencing or fine plastic / wire mesh
screening. Ensure that the flight path (of low flying bees) is not directly
across other plots.

Handling bees should be done at times
when the bees are very active, thus leaving fewer in the hive.

Always ensure there is someone else on
site in case of emergency when handling bees.

Management Policy / Criteria

A person wishing to keep bees on
allotments must first seek the agreement of the Allotment Managers and must
undertake to abide by any rules stipulated and must satisfy the managers of
their competence or that they have arranged adequate supervision.

A person keeping bees on an allotment
must satisfy the Allotment Managers that they have made adequate
arrangements to ensure that any problems caused by their bees in their
absence will be resolved.

Allotment Managers must be responsible
for policing the conditions on which bees are permitted on allotments. Local
Beekeeping Associations could be requested to appoint members to be
available to offer advice if required but the members could not be
responsible for any action by individuals or association members keeping
bees on allotments.

Allotment Managers or the local
Council may wish to insist on a person wanting to keep bees on an allotment
being a member of the local Beekeeping Association. Membership of a
Beekeeping Association provides members with third party / public liability
insurance through their affiliation to the British Beekeepers' Association.